


Treasure in a person, there’s price on their heart.

by L0S3R43V3R



Category: Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, How Do I Tag, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, like don’t worry about it too much, not strong angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-23 11:22:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30054699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/L0S3R43V3R/pseuds/L0S3R43V3R
Summary: A teenage boy in a paddle boat, found at the docks of the village. A cardboard box over his head and covered head to toe in clothing to hide himself.A natural born demon, a child hated by life itself. But chooses to see only positive for seeing things as negative was never his ideal way to spend his time.I’m terrible at summarizing, pls help.
Relationships: Zak Ahmed/Darryl Noveschosch
Comments: 31
Kudos: 67





	1. First meeting

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, uh. I ended the voting early because I’m a dumbass and thought that it was Monday already. Next time, I’m setting a timer.
> 
> But new readers, if you’re here in the future, hi!
> 
> Also, I call them children but they’re both teenagers. They’re just seen as kids still since they aren’t considered mature yet.

“A child?” The woman asked.

“A child in the river, came a-floating down the stream in a little row boat with a damn cardboard box to cover ‘em. Don’t know how the poor thing made it here, but I recon he’ll be just fine.” The other woman replied.

“What’s going to happen to him?” The first woman asked.  
  
“‘Prolly work on the farm. It’ll be nice to have a wee boy of me own.” The second lady said.

“You already have a child, don’t you?” The first woman said.  
  
“That devil ain’t no child of mine. That damned wreck can go back to ‘ell where it belongs.” The second lady replied.

The first woman sighed, “how about I take the child? I’ve been gettin’ kind of lonely by myself.”  
  
“Well dear, do what you wish with him then. I agree that you’ve been lonelay. You ought to find you a man to help take care of ‘em. A young woman like you got ta have letters a-flyin’ to your doorstep. Should read ‘em.” The second woman said, playfully nudging her.  
  
“Stop it, I’ll find someone soon enough.” The first woman said.

“Whatever you say deary. The child should be in that cottage o’er there.” The second woman said, pointing to a cottage to the right of the boat dock.  
  
“Thank you.” The first woman said quickly as she started to walk to the door. When she approached, the door opened in front of her and there a child stood in the doorway.  
  
“Hello there, are you the boy from the river?” The woman asked. The child just stood, not knowing where they should go.  
  
Then, a voice came from inside the house, “wait! I still need to check for injury!” The child looked behind them to see the towns doctor turning the corner to chase after them. The child ran away, past the first woman.

“Hold on!” The first woman said as she grabbed her dress and picked it up off the floor to run after them. The child ran into the marketplace, slowing down as to not bump into people and fall. The woman ran through the crowd, snaking through them easily.

Soon she caught up with the child and grabbed him by the hood of his jacket.He didn’t try to kick or thrash away, instead choosing to hold the box over his head. “What peculiar clothing you have.” The woman stated as she turned him around to get a better look. The child stayed silent.

“Well, I guess you can tell me about yourself when we get home.” She said as she moved her hand his shoulder so she wouldn’t be choking him. He walked beside her as she went to her house.  
  
“You know, any other kid would have just taken off their jacket and kept running. You could have also pushed me away easily, you’re the same height as me. Now either you’re stupid, or you don’t want to make a scene.” She looked at the child. He said nothing, only looked back at her.

“I’m going to assume that you aren’t stupid for now, that would be rude of me.” He gave no reaction, just turned to look back at the dirt path.

They made it to the woman’s house and walked inside the house. “Now, you look to be a teenager, so I assume that you know how to bathe yourself.” She said and the child nodded.

“See, you aren’t stupid. Now I’ll go prep the bath, you stay in here and get comfortable.” She said. Then she walked passed the living room and walked into the room to the right. The child sat down on the wooden chair at the table, tapping his fingers as he waited for the bath to be made. He looked up from his fingers to see a price of paper with ink and a calligraphy pen next to it.

“Okay, you’re free to go in now.” The woman said. The child walked over to her and as soon as he was going to turn into the room, she grabbed him by the shoulder. He looked up at her to signal ‘what?’  
  
“You can call me Jane. Would you like to tell me your name?” She asked. The child thought about it. He didn’t really have a name, they wouldn’t call him anything that could be considered a name. He shrugged his shoulders.

“You don’t have a name?” She asked. He shook his head. “Um, oh goodness I’m terrible with names.” She looked around her house, not finding anything to really go off of. The child tapped on her shoulder and pointed to the table. She looked at where he pointed, a paper.  
  
She went over to it and picked it up. ‘5k3ppy’ was written on it. “Huh, did you put this on there?” She looked back at him. The child pointed at the page and then at himself. “That’s your name? Skeppy?” Skeppy just stared expectantly at her.

“All right, I’ll call you Skeppy. It’s very nice to meet you.” She smiled and extended a hand to him. His gloved hand met her bare one as they shook in greeting. “Now go get in the bath before it gets cold!” She said and he practically skipped to the bathroom.

  
When he got out, he had the same clothes that he had on when Jane first met him. “Oh no, I have some new clothes for you to put on.” She stood up and gave him a pile of clothes. He inspected the outer garments; a short-sleeved shirt and some shorts. He handed them back to her and shook his head.  
  
“What’s wrong? Do you wish to wear your same dirty clothes every day?” Skeppy shook his head, then he pulled on the end of his sleeve, along with the end of his pants. Jane looked at him curiously. He took the shirt back from her and pulled at it’s sleeve before pulling at his sleeve again.

“Oh! Do you wish to wear long-sleeve and pants?” She asked. He eagerly nodded his head. “Well, the summers here aren’t too harsh. I’ll bring you some different clothes.” She got up and ran to her room.

Skeppy sat down on the table again and stared at the shirt. The shirt would only be a little big on him the sleeves would actually cover up to his elbows. He thought about putting it on just in case it would be hot outside. But it would be way too risky, especially if he were to fall and the shirt rode up his arm. He placed the shirt back on the table and watched as Jane rushed to him with a different set of clothes

He took them and ran off to the bathroom. He quickly changed and looked it the mirror to see if he was completely covered up. The only part that was showing was an inch of his shoulder, but that didn’t matter to him. He walked out of the bathroom to show off his outfit. Jane smiled and clapped her hands.  
  
“Okay! I’ll have your old clothes washed by the end of the week so that you can wear them next week. I’ll let you wear them once a week from now on, okay?” Skeppy nodded. “Great! Now let’s eat. What would you like to eat?” She looked back to see no reaction.  
  
“You know, that cardboard box really is boring to look at. Would you like to decorate it?” He shook his head. Then pointed at her. “What about me?” She asked. He put his hands on the collar of his shirt and pulled his head into it, making the cardboard box fall off. Then he scrambled to grab it with his lack of vision. Once he grabbed it he stuck it out towards her.  
  
“You want me to decorate it?” He put his hand in a fist and make a nodding motion. “Oh, you know sign language?” She asked but he made the fist shake its head, ‘no.’ She smiled and grabbed the cardboard box from him, taking it to her room to decorate. “I’ll be right back!” Skeppy just sat there and waited.

It didn’t take long for her to come back with the cardboard box. “Now, I know that you probably don’t want to show your face, so I’ll guide you to your room to look at it in private.” He stood up from his seat and let Jane guide him by his shoulder, like she did when they first arrived.  
  
He stepped into the room and felt the box go over his head and looked back at her, only to see a shut door. He sighed as he took the cardboard box off to admire the artwork on it. It was painted blue all the way around, except for the front.

The front had two eye holes that stretched a little to make them go from the sides to where he originally put eye holes. They were also covered in a thin black fabric that he could see out of perfectly, it just made his vision darker than it usually was. Then, there was a goofy smile painted on the bottom of it, red indicating a tongue. He smiled at the image.

It was a little childish for him, but then again, he really didn’t have a childhood. He put the cardboard box on and ran out of the room to Jane. She was by the stove, cooking something in a pot. He was careful not to startle her, and made as loud of steps as he could to alert his presence.  
  
She turned around and let the spoon in her hand lean on the inside of the pot. She smiled as she put her hands on her hips, “I did a pretty good job, didn’t I?” Skeppy walked up to her and gave her a hug. She was shocked but hugged back. She could hear him sniffle as he placed his head on her shoulder. She rubbed his back and leaned into the cardboard box.

It only took him a few seconds to go back to normal and pull away. He walked out of the kitchen and sat at the table, taking a gloved hand to his covered face to assumably wipe away tears. Jane just went back to cooking. Skeppy waited patiently at the table. This was the best day of his life. Who knew that the world would have such nice people?

  
  
  
Bad sat in the back corner of the barnyard. He didn’t really know if he should call himself ‘bad’ because he knew that he wasn’t bad. But she really didn’t give him much to choose from. Honestly, bad was the better of the things she’s called him. Useless, Devil’s child, Runt, Demon. Bad was just one of the less harmful ones. Bad was cut off from his thoughts as the barnyard doors were opened and a sliver of light fell upon his face.  
  
“Get up. It’s time to work.” Bad smiled as he jumped out of his corner and to the open door. His mom was there again today.  
  
“Mom! How was work today?” He said as he bounced in place.  
  
“Margret to you, nothin’ else, ya hear?. When will you learn to keep that filthy name out of your mouth?” Margret scolded.

“But you are my mom, Margret.” Bad replied with a teethy grin.  
  
Margret cringed, “put ur god damn teeth away. Them things is hideous.” Bad pushed his lips together. “There ya go. Now Jane’s a comin’ o’er today an I don’t want ta hear a sound from ‘ere. Ya hear?” Margret demanded and Bad nodded his head excitedly. Margret looked at him in disgust as she let him out of the barn doors.  
  
“Ya know what ta do. Pigs, chicks, cows, an’ me horse. Get to it.” Margret said as her farewell as she walked back to the house. Bad jumped excitedly as he headed to work. Every day he could at least be a little useful!

  
“Skeppy, are you sure you don’t want to just stay home instead?” Jane asked. Skeppy nodded his head and walked out the door to her side. She smiled as she closed the door. Nothing of much value was in there, so there was no need to lock it. Besides, the towns people were nice folks, and they would never steal anything from Jane’s house.  
  
They walked back down the path and passed the market this time instead of through it. They walked down a path marked by tire marks. Big enough that they were probably made by a tractor. Skeppy was scared to meet whoever Margret was, but he assumed that she would be just as sweet as Jane. They were friends, and he didn’t believe that Jane could be friends with someone mean.

  
  


When they arrived at the front door, Skeppy’s eyes wander to the barn behind the house. It was way bigger than the actual house, and had a huge field in front of it. Jane knocked on the door and Margret came to it in seconds.

“Come in.” She said as she saw Jane. Then she looked over to Skeppy. “Ooh, ya made me think ye a damn murderer with that thing on ye head. Why dontcha take it off?” Margret asked.  
  
Skeppy just shook his head. Margret looked to Jane for an explanation but she just shrugged her shoulders. “Ah, well, a little secrecy ain’t hurt no one. Gets ya all the ladies.” Margret said as she laughed. Skeppy gave no reaction.  
  
“Shy eh? No matter, in ya two!” Margret stepped out of the way and the two stepped inside. “Make yerselfs comfortable while I get ye something to eat.” Margret said as she headed to the kitchen. Jane looked down at Skeppy and nodded, looking away again to lead him to the table. From there, there’s an open window showing a field and some barely seeable structures.  
  
“Ya can go an’ explore the barn if ye want. Beware the monster a lurkin’ on ye way.” Margret said as she laughed again. Jane smiled politely at the joke and Skeppy stood up. He’s seen many monsters in his life, he wondered what this monster would be like. He quickly walked outside and to the barn.

  
  
“Monster?” Jane asked.  
  
“Ha, I was just tryin’ ta scare ‘im. Ain’t no monster out dere ‘cept the runt.” Margret explained. Jane sighed into her tea. She didn’t understand why Margret would call a child a monster. But she had also never seen or met this ‘devil,’ so she couldn’t defend him.

Skeppy walked along the path separating the crops. He thought that he was far away enough from the house and lifted the box to his nose to smell the fields better. After a whiff, he dropped the box back down over him. Even if there was no one out here, a simple move like that could put his life on the line again. He passed the fields and into a gated area to lay down at the beginning of a grass covered area.

He sighed as he spread himself out on the floor. Then he heard steps coming toward him and he pulled his box down as he sat up to ensure that his face and neck would be covered.  
  
“You really shouldn’t be laying down in the cow’s field. You could die.” A voice from behind him said. He quickly turned to see the man. “Here, do you want some help up?” The man asked as he held a hand out. Skeppy took the hand and stood up.  
  
“Ooo, nice gloves.” The man complimented. Skeppy nodded. The man let go of Skeppy’s hand and instead put it on his hip. “I’m Bad by the way!” Bad said.  
  
Skeppy took a moment to look over the boy. He was about the same age as him, probably a little older. He had a black long-sleeve shirt with a hood that was outlined with red. He wore a brown belt and black pants with red checkers below the knee. The hood was over his head and created a shadow over his face.  
  
“What’s your name?” Bad asked. Skeppy grabbed the man’s hand and led him and led him back outside the gates and to the dirt path. Then he let go and squatted down to the earth. He used his finger to make an indent in the dirt and spell out his name.  
  
“Skeppy?” Bad asked. Skeppy nodded and stood up. “Nice to meet you, Skeppy. You know, you remind me of Mega.” Skeppy tilted his head to show his confusion. “It’s someone I know. Don’t worry about it. Do you want me take you on a tour through the barn?” Bad asked.  
  
Skeppy nodded and he was immediately dragged in the direction Bad was heading. “Okay Skeppy! You’ll be the first person I ever give this tour to!” Bad said excitedly.

  
Skeppy just nodded as he followed Bad to wherever he was headed.


	2. Tour with the demon boy.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skeppy gets a tour around the farm from Bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo, second chapter!

Skeppy was dragged to a chicken coop. “These are our chicks!” Bad said, extending his arms out to show it off. It was a caged up area with miniature houses that Skeppy assumed housed the chickens.

“I’m actually supposed to feed them right now.” Bad ran off to the shed next to the coop. He came out with a bag of chicken feed and poured the contents into the strip container. The chickens peeked their heads out of their houses, and as soon as Bad was out of the gates they all ran to the food.   
  
“I think they’re scared of me, but they could also just be very shy!” Bad exclaimed as he put the bag back in the shed. “We’ll need more of that soon. That means Mega will come soon!” Bad closed the door and excitedly skipped over to Skeppy to grab his hand again. Skeppy made sure to hold onto the bottom so that it wouldn’t slip off.   
  
He dragged to the outside of a pig pen, wooden gates holding most of the muddy area in, but some of it spilling out past them. “I already fed the pigs breakfast, they usually eat my mom’s scraps.” Bad said. Skeppy looked up at him and tilted his head again.   
  
“Oh! I’m not supposed to call her that. My mom is Margret. I saw you come from the direction of the house, so I assume you met her.” Bad replied. Skeppy straightened his head again. The pigs were all together, away from the gate which was unusual behavior.   
  
“They’re pretty shy too. But there is an animal that isn’t shy!” Bad yelled as he ran away from the pigs. One of the pigs hesitantly went up to Skeppy. It’s nose flared at him a few times before it made a loud ‘oink.’ Skeppy reached out to it and rubbed it’s head.   
  
“Come on Skeppy!” Bad yelled with a wave. Skeppy patted the pigs head once more before going off to Bad.   
  
“Her name is Jessica!” Bad said as he let go off Skeppy’s hand to take off one of his gloves. Skeppy stepped closer to the horse to admire it. It was a black coated horse with white splotches that covered her stomach, the right side of her neck, and her snout. Her mane was black as well as her tail. Skeppy looked back at Bad, who had a bare hand to the horse’s face.

Skeppy just stood and stared at the hand, not knowing exactly how to react. It was pure black, inhuman it looked almost burnt. His nails were red, but not as if they were painted, more like they were just naturally colored that way. Bad took his hand away from the horse and put his glove back on.   
  
“Um, would you like to pet her?” Bad asked. Skeppy held a hand up to her but his wrist was grabbed before he made contact. “You can’t pet her with your glove, silly. You’ll miss out on the feeling of it.” Bad said. Skeppy pulled his hand away and shook his head.   
  
“You don’t want to pet her?” Bad asked, confused since Skeppy was so eager to just a second ago. Skeppy shook his head again and pulled at his glove. “Skeppy, what are you doing?” Bad asked. Skeppy stopped his action and instead pet the air next to the horse, then he pulled on his glove again and shook his head. “You want to pet her without your gloves?” Bad asked. Skeppy tilted his head back in disappointment and just shook his head.

“Oh wow, what’s that?” Bad asked as he went to poke at Skeppy’s neck. Skeppy quickly put his head down and pushed his box against the top of his head. Then he felt where Bad’s finger would have landed. Just a mole, he was safe. “Oh, did your mom tell you to cover up too? My mom said that I would scare people off if I showed any skin.” Bad said.   
  
Then he looked to the hand that he was petting Jessica with. “Uh oh. Dang it, if my mom hears about how I took of my glove I won’t be able to do chores for a week!” Bad said, pacing back and forth and holding his sleeve. 

“Promise you won’t tell her? I really like seeing the animals every day.” Bad pleaded. Skeppy rolled his eyes from inside the cardboard box, making a zipping motion over the mouth of the box. “Oh yeah, I guess you don’t really talk anyways.” Bad explained to himself.   
  
“Well, other than that, there’s moo moo meadows where I found you and the crops. But I’m guessing you don’t want to stare at crops with me.” Bad said. Skeppy just stared at him. Bad put his hands on his hips, “well, I hope I did a good job today.” Skeppy gave Bad a thumb’s up.   
  
“I’ll show you the orchard later, right now you should head back to the house. Don’t want whoever takes care of you to find out you were with me.” Skeppy really didn’t want to leave the kind man, but he also knew that he had to go back. He nodded and gave Bad a wave, which Bad returned.   
  
When Skeppy was far enough down the path back to the house, Bad sighed and pulled off his hood, combing his hair to make it less uncomfortable. He really messed up today, and he hoped that Skeppy actually was a mute. If he wasn’t, Bad wouldn’t get the opportunity to ever see him again. Not that there was a high possibility that he would see him again otherwise. He walked back over to Jessica, petting her.   
  
Jessica made him feel like he had someone, or something like him. Then again, Skeppy did seem to be in the same predicament as him. Covered skin that he was more careful of. Yet, Bad saw nothing wrong with the part of the neck that he saw. But he did remember when Skeppy took his box off for a second to take in the atmosphere, he was far but could see a shine. That shine was probably what Skeppy was hiding.

Did he glow? Ooo, like a flashlight that he would be able to take anywhere. Bad was content with the answer for now, since he didn’t have any other assumptions to make. He really hoped that Skeppy would come back and show him that glow again.   
  
And after he was done with his chores and the sun had fallen, he went back to his corner in the barn. He took off his glove and stuck one finger out, using the nail to carve into the wall. A nice 5k33py marked. He smiled and looked at the other names. Mega and Margret (a.k.a mom). He crossed out the words in the parenthesis again. There were already ten marks there; when will he learn?   
  
He sighed as he looked at the spaces between those three names. There were at least thirty other names on the wall, all crossed out since they were dragged away by their parents, or they ran away when Bad accidently showed a part of his skin. And there were very few occasions where he accidently showed his skin, but the punishment was always the same. Stay put in the back of the barn until mother tells him that he can do chores again.   
  
He ran two fingers across Skeppy’s name and smiled. Skeppy was different, he wouldn’t tell on Bad. Then they can be best friends! Just like him and Mega!   
  
Bad looked over at his makeshift calendar. The days of the week listed above tally marks. He looked at which day had one more tally than the rest. It was Saturday today, meaning he would get to see the people who brought the supplies. Bad smiled widely at the thought of seeing more people again. He rested against the wall of names, today was a good day.

  
Skeppy arrived at the house just in time to hear the two ladies talking about him. “Ye shouldn’ baby that boy. He abouts ready ta be claimed by a woman. Work in labor fer ‘is family. Why don’t ya let him work ‘er as trainin’? Be good for the lad.” Margret said.   
  
“I’ll think about it. I think he should get settled down first. How about in a week?” Jane replied.   
  
“Ey, that what we call good parentin’. Yer growin’ so much already!” Margret said.

“Thank you. Well, it’s about time I go find him and we head home.”   
  
“Ain’t hard ta find ‘im. Been standin’ by the door fer a while.” Margret said, pointing her mugged hand to Skeppy.

“Oh, did you hear, Skeppy? You’ll be working here in a week! Isn’t that exciting?” Jane said, happily clapping. Skeppy nodded, imitating Jane as a way of showing his excitement.

“Yay! Now farewell Margret. We shall be off now.” Jane said, standing up and bowing her head in respect.   
  
“Bye. See ye two in abouts a week.” Margret said and sipped her tea again. Skeppy waved to her and was guided outside by his mom.   
  
“So did you see any monsters?” Jane asked with a giggle. Skeppy didn’t register it as a joke and shook his head. He knew that she probably has never seen monsters, but who she was implying was one, wasn’t at all what Skeppy would call a monster. Skeppy looked down at his feet, it was times like these where he wished that he was able to speak. But he couldn’t, and he had only the monsters to blame for that.

When they arrived at Jane’s house, Skeppy jumped through the doorway and into the dining room. Jane calmly followed him as he sat down at the table and grabbed the calligraphy pen again. Skeppy stared at the piece of paper as his pen stayed still on the paper. He didn’t know how to spell ‘Bad.’ Jane came to put a hand on his shoulder.   
  
“What’s up?” Jane asked. Skeppy looked up at her, not knowing how to describe what he was trying to do. He scraped the pen across the paper to hopefully make the word that he wanted. He let her examine it, but she only looked confused. Skeppy put the pen against the paper again and drew a stick figure, then he drew an arrow from the figure to the scribble of a name.

“Oh, who’s that?” Jane asked, pointing at the figure. Skeppy let go of the pen to guide her hand to the word. “I don’t know what that says.” She replied. Skeppy tried again, dipping the pen in ink first. He wrote out another scribble. She just shook her head. Skeppy tried once more before dropping the pen.

“Do you not know how to write?” Skeppy shook his head. “But you know how to read?” Skeppy shook his head again. “Huh. How did you learn your name then?” Skeppy looked at her, watching as she realized he had no way of answering the question.   
  
“Very well, I shall teach you how to read and write from this point on. I must have some children’s books here somewhere.” Jane said as she went into her room.   
  
She came back with a children’s book that had thick pages. “Here, this is the book that I used when I was a kid.” Skeppy took the book from her and opened to the first page. Familiar symbols lay in lines of each page. He flipped through the pages and found no words that he knew.

Of course, he only knew his own name, but that wasn’t in the book. Jane scooted a chair over to him to sit at. “This is going to be harder than it would with most kids. So, you must tell me now; can you talk? At all?”   
  
Skeppy thought about it, he opened his mouth to reply, but the words couldn’t get passed his throat. He swallowed them back down and shook his head. “Okay, well, I’ll accept the challenge then!” She said as she turned the book back to the first page. “I won’t bother with the sounds of the words for now, seeing as you wouldn’t be able to say them yet anyways. We’ll just try memorizing these words instead.” Jane said.   
  
Skeppy nodded and followed her finger which pointed to the first word.

“The,” she said clearly, then moved her finger to the next word.   
  
“Fat,” she repeated the first step.

“Cat.” Skeppy listened to the words that she spoke as she pointed to the symbols. To him, it only made sense that he would memorize the words. That was the way he had learned. And later that night he had the book at his bed and repeated the words that he had learned that day in his head. 

His finger went to the first word. The.   
  
Second word. Fat.   
  
Third word. Cat.   
  
Fourth word. Ran.   
  
Fifth word. In.

Sixth word. A.   
  
Seventh word. Race.   
  
Skeppy had been told that the dot at the end of a line of words made them a sentence. He had learned one sentence today. Then he heard footsteps down the hall and gloved his hand again, light disappearing from the room. He placed the book on the floor and turned to face the wall. He heard the door to his room open and footsteps approach him.

“There it is.” Jane said, picking up the book. She was about to leave the room but stopped and looked back at Skeppy.   
  
“You know, I’ve always wanted a child of my own. I spent years creating clothing for this future child, from when they were a newborn to when they become an adult.” She laughed and walked towards the bed, sitting in the stool beside it.

“I never thought that a teenager would stumble into my life. But I’m glad that I at least get to put these books to use.” She looked to the ‘sleeping’ boy.   
  
“Make sure you take that box off your head before you go to sleep. If you don’t you’ll have a real bad pain in your neck.” Jane said, getting up from the chair and walking back over to the door. She stepped outside and was about to close the door but stopped.   
  
“Goodnight, Skeppy. Don’t let the bed bugs bite.” Jane closed the door and walked to her room. She sat down at her sewing desk and looked at the book in her hands. At least she could pretend to have a child. Even if that child hides their face and stays silent, at least she had a child. She hoped that today wasn’t just a cruel dream, but she couldn’t change anything if it was. 

She just had to hope. That was the only thing she could do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jane lore? Already? Also, Margret is the worst name to have to type out on a computer. One of my least favorite words.


	3. A week to meet.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bad and Skeppy spending a week away from each other before they meet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope that this doesn’t seem rushed. Ahh, uh I love you all, enjoy!

The next day came and Bad was awoken by the sun peeking through the crack in the open barn doors. He quickly sat up from the wall, excited for the day ahead.

“Get up. Ye know the mans comin’ today. Ye need to get ready ‘fore then.” Margret said.   
  
“Yes ma’am!” Bad said as he stood up, the hay falling off him and into a mess on the floor.   
  
“An’ wash herself. Don’t want ‘em heavin’ up thems breakfast.” Margret said. She closed the door again before Bad could reply. Bad combed his hair and ended up with another strand of hay in his hand. He walked out of the barn and to the house.

He wasn’t allowed there often, but his mother would bare to see him once a week to shower for guests. Otherwise, he would have to use a hose to shower with. He liked the privilege of being able to shower in his mother’s house, at least he would come out with fluffy hair. And it smelled nice, since he would be using an actual shampoo and not one for horses.   
  
That shampoo only worked for Jessica, because he was not a horse. He liked to think about how he would look like as a horse, probably the same as Jennifer, but he would have red hooves. Oh, and he would have green eyes, instead of Jennifer’s black ones. He arrived at the house now, and went through the back door where the bathroom was closest to. His mother wouldn’t let him enter the other way anyways.   
  
When he got out of the shower he did his routine of combing through his hair for half an hour before the supply people came. He sat down on the dirt path for the tractor of supplies to come through.   
  
Then came the sounds of the wheels rolling on the dirt and the engine pushing the vehicle. Bad stood up from the path just as the truck stopped in front of him.   
  
A man came out of the front seat and Mega jumped out of the passenger’s seat and walked to the back of the tractor to open the tailgate. Then he grabbed on to the top of one of the sides and jumped onto the back. Him and his dad and Bad all took turns carrying varying size bags and boxes until the tractor was empty.

Then Mega’s dad went up to Margret to discuss pay and Bad went to “talk” to Mega.

Mega started the conversation pointing the fingers of both of his bent hands, backs pressed together, downwards. Then he flipped them to face both of the palms upwards.   
  
How.   
  
He made his right hand’s fingers into the ‘r’ shape and pushed them forward from the mouth.   
  
Are.   
  
Then he pointed at Bad.

You. 

“I’ve been doing really well! I actually had someone visit me yesterday!” Bad replied.   
  
Mega took his right index finger and made a counterclockwise circle around his lips.   
  
Who.   
  
Then he traced a question mark in the air with his index again.   
  
“He said that his name was Skeppy. He was wearing like a cardboard box over his head and he was covered in clothing like me. He was really nice.” Bad said. Mega nodded his head in understanding.   
  
“Oh and he is mute too! But I don’t think he knows sign language.” Mega just raised his eyebrows, not really knowing what to say about it.   
  
His dad came back and wrapped an arm around Mega to grab the shoulder opposite facing him. “We must be goin’ now. C’mon Mega.” Mega’s dad turned him around before he could sign a proper goodbye.   
  
“Bye Mega! See you next week!” Mega just helplessly looked back and gave him a smile under his mask. Bad stayed waving a farewell as the truck sped off until it was out of sight. Then Margret came stomping towards him and grabbed Bad by the ear, dragging him down to her height.   
  
“Ye talked ta that Skeppy kid?” She asked.   
  
Bad winced in the pain in his ear, “yes I did. Was I not supposed to?” Margret started to drag him by his ear, he knew he had messed up.   
  
“Ye know betta than ta be talkin’ ta e’ry kid that come along this trail.” Margret replied.   
  
“I’m sorry, he was just laying in the cattle field and I had to get him up!” Bad defended. She let go of his ear when she arrived at the doors of the barn.

“Ye is suppos’ ta tell me ‘fore ye talk ta kids. He starts workin’ ‘ere next week. Betta not’ve scared ‘im off.” Margret warned.   
  
“I didn’t I swear! We had a great time and I even showed him around the place!” Bad said. Margret sighed.   
  
“All right. I’mma choose ta believe ya fer now. But if he evah comes cryin’ ta Jane, yer gin be in more than a heap of trouble.” Bad eagerly nodded his head.   
  
“Yes, I understand!” Bad said.   
  
“Good, now I’ll take care of tha chores today. Ye get inside an think ‘bouts what ye did.” Margret said. Bad nodded again and opened the door to the barn, stepping in before Margret slammed the door behind him.   
  
Bad walked back to his corner and spun around happily. Skeppy was going to start working with him in a week! He just had to wait. He marked another tally under Sunday. He just had six more days to go from here.   
  
He walked over to the corner along the same wall as the resting corner. There he sat and started working. He wasn’t too good at drawing, only practice being tracing faces in the dirt. But he believed that he was pretty okay at it.   
  
He started with the cardboard box, making sure to make it proportionate to Skeppy’s actual head. He used different parts of his nail to put more depth where it was needed, or to make the silk that was placed over Skeppy’s eye holes.   
  
Then he started on the clothes that Skeppy wore, the box covering most of his skin, but Bad put a line where the box and shirt separated to show a bit of his skin. He scratched in lines to make the shadows of the clothing and he carved in where the stitching could be clearly seen. Then he finished by drawing the silly face that was sloppily drawn on as a face.   
  
When he was done, he admired his work. It again, wasn’t much, but it was Skeppy. Bad laid next to the carving and sighed. He would have a friend next week. Someone who he could talk to every day. Well, that he could sort of communicate with.   
  
Well, it was someone who would be by his side every day, and that was all that he needed. Just to have another human being by his side, if he could call the two of them human beings. Next week. Next week. Bad just had to wait until next week. Next week his life was going to be changed, for the better for once. He just hoped that he didn’t mess it up like he had done countless times before.

He took one last look at the boy before going back to close his eyes in the corner. The Skeppy corner. It was a lot easier to sleep now that there was someone to sleep with. No worry about how alone you are when you know that there is someone right there.

  
  


The two boys worked equally as hard that week, eager to see the other. Skeppy had been memorizing words quicker than anyone normally would. Maybe because he had a more mature mind than the younger kids that still had to wrap their heads around the mere concept of memorization. Or maybe because he practiced hard.   
  
Every night he would use his finger to show a glow on the paper as he read each word out in his mind. And each morning, his mom would review the previous sentences, having him write out the words in a different order to from different sentences so that he would memorize the separate words and not just the whole phrases. Then she would teach him another sentence.   
  
It was going to take them a while to learn just one sentence a day, so they both challenged themselves trying to get Skeppy to learn at least four sentences each day. That meant, at the end of a month, he should learn about 600 words. And even though it seems like a big number, there are around 171,164 words in the entire English language. 600 was barely a scratch to that number, but people don’t usually learn all of those words anyways.   
  
At least after that week, Skeppy had learned three books worth of words, given that they were children’s books and had the same simple words repeated in them. Jane was still proud of him, and on that Saturday morning, they went to the bookstore to grab a bigger book for Skeppy to slowly read and memorize.   
  
He would also be working on the farm for half a day so his progression time would be cut substantially. But he would try his best. He would learn so that he could communicate and tell Jane all about Bad. And tell Bad all about Jane.

  
  
Bad didn’t slack the entire time either. He spent every day taking care of the animals to the best of his ability. He made sure to be on his best behavior as well, addressing his mom as Margret and saying very few words as not to upset her. He always answered her questions with a loud and clear voice, instead of with a nod or a shake.   
  
He made sure not to get in trouble for any reason and he saw a disgusting look on the woman’s face after the week.   
  
Usually, she would be frowning, eyebrows furrowed and rolling her eyes at every word that came out of Bad’s mouth. She would sigh often and her old age really showed through her wrinkles. But that Saturday morning, she greeted Bad with a smile.   
  
A smile that showed Bad how much control she had over him. He really hated to say such a thing, it was extremely rude of him. To hate a person’s smile. A smile meant that a person was happy, it was supposed to be a good feeling to see someone smile. But it didn’t make Bad feel good to see Margret smile.   
  
It made him even more scared of the woman that he already was. That smile taunted him, like she was reminding him of how proud she felt to be above him. How proud she was of him for being an obedient little dog, a toy to her. She was controlling every part of him, even the way that he himself smiled was changed. He never showed her any real emotion, he acted like the demon that she called him. He acted like she was his Devil.   
  
And that’s all she really wanted from him. She probably hated seeing Bad smile too. Because it reminded her of how human he actually was. Bad wasn’t really a demon, was he? And he knew that she thought that too. And that why she would put him through agony every day. Because that smile that Bad wore on his face reminded her too of how cruel she was to the teenager.   
  
That’s all he was, a teenager. But he was mature enough to understand that people don’t understand what is different from what they’ve seen before. He was mature enough to understand his place in the world, but still not mature enough to think that he couldn’t fix it.

  
  
“Skeppy boy is comin’ o’er today. I need ya ta show ‘im ‘round an tell ‘im how ya take care of the animals, ya hear?” Margret stated.

“Yes, Margret.” Bad replied.   
  
“Good. Now why don’tcha walk yer arse up ta the cot’age and give yerself a cleanin’. Don’t wantcha ta scare ‘im off with ye stench.” Margret said.

“Okay, I’ll do that right now.” Bad replied. He started to walk away when Margret stopped him with a hand on the shoulder. Bad turned to face her, mind going wild with the one thought.   
  
Hand. Her hand was touching him. He was being touched by Margret. Direct contact. What happened? Did he say something wrong again?   
  
“Ye know what? Ye can take off ya hood today. ‘Tis goin’ ta be mighty hot an I don’t want ye faintin’. An if he runs off, let ‘im run. Ain’t yer fault if he scared of ya.” Margret patted his shoulder before dropping her hand back down and walking to the market.

Bad touched the spot where Margret’s hand was. It felt disgusting, he was filthy. He needed to shower that woman’s filth off. He didn’t know what inspired this change off attitude towards his mother. But he assumed it was having to obey her every command.

A week just listening to her was enough to make him despise her. Positive, Bad. You have to stay positive. He shouldn’t think of his mother as disgusting, she was his mother. Those words worked less and less every day. But there was a sentence that kept him through the week. She’s the reason that you get to spend every day with Skeppy from now on.   
  
That instantly calmed him down, and he was back to praising his mother for being the wonderful being she was. She had made this farm and allowed him to live on it, and to do chores to connect with the animals. He should be grateful.

  
  


“Okay, are you all ready to go get a tour of the farm?” Jane asked. Skeppy nodded as he tugged his shoelaces once more and stood up.   
  
Jane smiled and gave him a hug, “I hope you enjoy your time there. I heard that it’s fun.” Skeppy nodded and Jane pulled away. “Well, let’s go then!” Jane led the two of them back down the path, meeting Margret on their way there.   
  
“Well, c’mon then. Farm’s a-waitin’” Margret said as she took Skeppy’s hand. He was dragged away as Jane just waved goodbye and turned to head back home. Skeppy let himself be taken, he was excited to see Bad again. When they got there, Bad was no where to be seen yet.

“The demon ought to be ready in jus’ a secon’. Be patient deary as he comes ‘round.” Margret said. Skeppy nodded to show his understanding.   
  
“An while ye wait, I have ta do things inside me house. I will leave ye and ‘im ‘lone ta do the chores. Have fun!” Margret said as she patted Skeppy’s shoulder and headed behind him to the house. Skeppy sat down on the dirt to wait for Bad. Seeing as it was more comfortable than standing. He traced his fingers in the dirt to spell out words, erasing them by smoothing the dirt out again.   
  
Soon, Bad came around to pick him up. “Hello, Skeppy! I’m so glad that I get to work with you again!” Bad said. Skeppy looked up from the dirt to see him.

Bad, no wonder he was called a demon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hehe, cliffhanger.
> 
> Also the sign language thing with Mega isn’t a one time thing, but as he starts to say more complicated things, I’ll of course have to stop describing every hand movement.


	4. Just a monster too.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skeppy finds out what Bad’s face looks like.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope y’all aspire to be just like me, getting distracted and playing Tetris for an hour in the middle of writing a chapter.

Skeppy stood up and took a moment to inspect Bad’s face. He looked completely normal at a glance, pale skin and light brown hair. But his eyes had a red tint to them and he had a bump on his head. Skeppy moved the hair to expose the bump, a red horn that was black at the tip. He rubbed his hand on it to find that it was smooth, even though it looked to be as rough as stone, and rounded slightly at the tip so it didn’t poke.   
  
“Skeppy, what are you doing?” Bad asked with a smile. Skeppy moved away from him and squatted down to write in the dirt again. “Cool.”   
  
Bad gasped, “aw, you think that it looks cool?” Skeppy nodded his head. Bad smiled widely, letting his teeth be shown. “Thank you!” Skeppy stood up again and looked at the teeth. Bad closed his mouth, knowing that his teeth were ‘hideous’ to some people, but Skeppy shook his head at the action.

“What?” Bad asked. Skeppy drew a smile on the front of the box with his fingers. “No, Skeppy, I’m not supposed to show my teeth.” Bad replied, looking up and closing his eyes so that Skeppy wouldn’t be able to ask again.   
  
“Okay, should we go to the-“ Bad was cut off by hands on each side of his mouth, restricting his mouth from closing. He looked down at Skeppy, “Geppy, shtopp.” Skeppy didn’t stop, instead he used one of his hands to pull Bad’s chin down to open his mouth wider.   
  
Bad didn’t fight against it, afraid that if he did, he would hurt Skeppy. But he did grab onto both of Skeppy’s wrists gently. But before he could pull him away, Skeppy did it himself and turned around quickly.

“Look, now you have spit all over your hands.” Bad said as Skeppy wiped his hands on the front of his pants. Then he reached down to grab his gloves on the floor in front of him and Bad realized that Skeppy’s hands were bare.   
  
He walked to the side to see his hands but Skeppy just turned with him. Bad tried turning the other way but Skeppy still followed him. Bad then stopped moving suddenly and Skeppy turned just enough more for Bad to catch a glimpse at his hand. The same shine from earlier, it was quickly covered by the glove.

Skeppy stood up straight again and turned to face Bad. He drew another smile on his face and pointed back at the dirt. Except the word, “cool” was messed up by their shuffling and now looked like a ‘c’, a ‘u’ and an exclamation mark. Bad looked at it and giggled.

“You think my teeth are cu?” He looked and saw Skeppy’s shoulders shake as if he were laughing along, and a faint whisper of a laugh. Bad wondered if his vocal cords were damaged, but it also sounded like if you stuffed something in an instrument; only air sounds. Skeppy stopped laughing and Bad started the second part of the tour.

“This is the orchard. Technically, I’m only in charge of one tenth of this. Or, I mean we’re only in charge of one tenth.” Bad looked at Skeppy, expecting to see another expression than the one on the box.   
  
“Um, yeah. We only take care of this every few weeks so we don’t have to worry about it right now. They do look like they might be ready to harvest soon though.” Bad said to himself. A hand was placed on Bad’s shoulder and he quickly snapped his head around, then he reminded himself that Skeppy was the only one there with him.   
  
He followed the hand on his shoulder to the boy, then where Skeppy was pointing. A completely red apple, weird coincidence since all of the other apples were covered in yellow, or just barely spotting red. “Ooo, that’s weird.” Bad said as he inspected it closer. Skeppy followed him and jumped to alert him.   
  
When Bad’s eyes were on him, he mimed his hands around an invisible person and then jumped into the person. Then he reached up and grabbed something in the air, bringing it down to him and sliding it across his box. Bad clapped at the show that he had received. Skeppy was about to imitate it again so that Bad would understand but then Bad got onto one knee, back facing Skeppy.   
  
“Try to climb on my shoulders so that you can reach it.” Bad said. Skeppy walked over to him and stepped over his arms to rest himself on Bad’s shoulders. Then, Bad grabbed his legs and stood up. Skeppy wobbled and ended up wrapping his arms around Bad’s face for support. Foolish of him since he had let his cardboard box fall onto the floor. It was a lost cause for now.   
  
When Bad was completely straight again, Skeppy let go, opting to hold onto Bad’s horn instead, somehow feeling rougher than before. He reached up with his other hand and grabbed the apple easily and brought it back down to him. He tapped on Bad’s head.

“Did you get it?” Bad asked. Skeppy put the apple in front of Bad’s face. Bad gasped, “nice, Skeppy!” Then he went back down and let Skeppy slide down his back onto the floor. Skeppy’s feet hit the grass and Bad was back up and facing him.   
  
Skeppy was putting his box back on his head. Bad was only able to see his hair since he was facing away from him, again. It was black and fluffy, just like the fluff that Bad’s was when he got out of the shower. He was tempted to touch it but he snapped himself out of the thought.

“Let’s go wash that off before you take a bite.” Bad said. He started walking in the direction of a waterspout when he heard the sound of an apple being eaten behind him. Bad stopped in his tracks and turned around.   
  
“Skeppy, please tell me you didn’t just eat that apple.” Bad pleaded. Skeppy stood frozen with the bitten apple in his hand. “Skeppy! You aren’t supposed to just eat apples without washing them!” Bad scolded.   
  
Skeppy just shrugged his shoulders and went to move the apple back under his mask. Bad grabbed the apple from him before it slipped under. “No, Skeppy. We have to go wash it first.” Bad said.

Skeppy just stared at him. Bad didn’t know what Skeppy expected so he just turned back towards the direction of the water faucet. “Come on Skeppy, so you can eat the rest of this.” Bad started walking and heard the satisfying sound of Skeppy walking with him.

  
Skeppy was peacefully eating his cleaned apple as Bad showed him around the farm again. This time, he showed Skeppy exactly where all the tools and food were kept. He explained each of the tools uses and the special cases where they would use certain tools. Skeppy really didn’t take in much of the information, but he tried his hardest.   
  
The words kind of just went in one ear and out the other. And soon his apple was finished too. He just gave it to the first pig that approached him. Bad stared as that same pig stood happily as Skeppy pet it.

“O-okay. Um, that should be most of it for now. It’s about to get dark so you really should be heading home.” Bad said. Skeppy stopped petting the pig. He wanted to tell Bad that he wanted to stay with him for a little longer. But the same as last time, he had no way of doing it.

And he tried to use his voice, he tried to scream out how he wanted to stay and learn about him more, but the sound wouldn’t come out. All that came out were broken wisps of air. He hated that he couldn’t talk. He felt tears threatening to come out of his eyes at the stress that he put on his throat, and the emotional pain it was to not be able to properly communicate.   
  
He walked over to Bad and hugged one of his arms, sniffling before he pulled away and started running back home. He made sure to give Bad a wave as he went, to let him know that it wasn’t his fault that Skeppy was running. He just wanted to go back home and back to his mom.   
  
He wanted to ask her how to say that he wanted to stay, but he knew he couldn’t. He wanted to talk, he really did want to talk. But it wasn’t safe. If he wanted to be safe and live a normal and happy life, he was damned to be a mute. That’s just how it goes. And he hoped that someday, he would be safe enough to talk again.   
  
But knowing how the world worked by now, there was no chance. People were greedy, and mean. And Skeppy had to remind himself of that everyday. If it weren’t for greedy people, he wouldn’t be at this place in the first place And maybe he would be back home, with his actual mom, and friends.

He ran into the house and saw Jane. “Hey, what’s wrong?” Jane asked. Skeppy closed the door and walked over to the table and grabbed the calligraphy pen. “Said.” Skeppy wrote on the paper. He pointed to the paper and then to himself.

“Did someone say something to you?” Jane asked. Skeppy shook his head. He grabbed the pen and crossed out the word. He pointed at the crossed out word and them himself. “Something you didn’t say?” Jane asked. Skeppy wasn’t trying to say that but it was a pleasant surprise. He nodded his head. “What didn’t you say?” Jane asked.   
  
Skeppy grabbed the pen.

“5k3ppy ______ with _____.” Skeppy wrote out. He pointed at his name. Then he pointed at the underlined space, he pointed at himself and pointed at the floor. “You’re here?” Skeppy shook his head.   
  
He pointed at his name again and then the pen, signifying that the pen was now him. Then he rolled the pen on the table and stopped it. Then he pointed at the pen again and looked at Jane. “You stop?” Skeppy shook his head again, getting more annoyed.  
  
He picked up the paper and folded it in half, standing it up and letting go of it. He put his hands in front of it as a person would if they were telling the paper to stay still and not fall. “You stand!”   
  
Skeppy shook his head again, folding the paper backwards and placing it back on the table. He decided that saying he wanted to stay was going to be a lot more difficult that an easier word. He hung his head as he repeated the actions that got him the first word. “Skeppy here?” Skeppy nodded his head and gave the pen to Jane.

“I have a feeling that that wasn’t the answer you wanted from me. But this is how you write ‘here.’” Jane said. 

“5k3ppy __here_ with _____.” The paper now read. Skeppy pointed to the next blank, mentally preparing himself for the game of charades he had ahead of him. Then he remembered that there was an easier way to say Bad. He put a thumbs down. God, he really felt stupid. He could have done that ages ago. “Bad?” Jane asked. Skeppy nodded. She used the pen to write the word in the other empty line.   
  
“5keppy __here_ with __bad__.” Skeppy looked at the paper and read it over and over. “Skeppy here with bad? What’s bad?” Jane asked. Skeppy took the pen and drew on the corner of the paper. Two stick figures, he drew a line from one of the stick figures to his name and then another line from the other stick figure to Bad’s name.

“Is he your friend?” Jane asked. Skeppy nodded. “Where did you meet Bad?” Skeppy wrote out the word, ‘farm.’ He learned that one while he was reading a book about the farm animals.   
  
“Oh, they work at the farm? Are they nice?” Skeppy nodded happily. Then he drew the stick figures on the other side of the paper holding hands. That’s when Jane noticed that there was a triangle drawn on the figure that was Bad.   
  
“What’s that on Bad’s head?” Jane asked as she pointed to it. Skeppy looked at it and then turned back to her. He pressed the tips of his fingers together to make a triangle shape and then placed his hands on the right side of his head. Jane’s expression turned from confusion to realization.   
  
Skeppy didn’t notice and went back to write on his paper, “cool.” Then he pointed to the word, made the horn again. Then put his hands in front of his ‘mouth’ and pinched his index finger and thumb together while pulling down, trying to make Bad’s teeth. Jane was speechless, there really was a demon on the farm. And they were Skeppy’s friend.   
  
“Skeppy, you are friends with the demon?” Jane asked. Skeppy put his hands down. He was disappointed. He thought that Jane wouldn’t be the one to place that name on Bad. Skeppy nodded anyways. Jane put on a faux smile, her eyes easily telling concern. “Well, we’ll talk about it later. I’ll go make the bath and you should get in since you had such a long day at the farm.” She headed out of the room and to the bathroom.   
  
Skeppy put his head in his hand. He thought that he would be safe with Jane, that people weren’t as cruel as he thought. He thought that maybe some people were just different.  
  
But everyone held some sort of lust with them. A lust for power, a lust to be on top, a lust to be rich. Skeppy had met all of those people. And Jane was probably the same, with a lust to be ‘safe’ from any ‘monster.’ And Skeppy couldn’t say that he would be thinking any differently if he was born normally. If he was a normal person, he would probably have a mean lust like everyone else. But right now, he had just one lust. The lust for acceptance.   
  
Jane soon came out of the bathroom and let Skeppy in. Skeppy stepped through the doorway and closed the door, locking it as well with the latch.   
  
He started by taking of his cardboard box, combing through his hair to smooth it out. Then he took off his long sleeve shirt, closing his eyes to save the surprise. He took off his gloves then the rest of his clothing. Then he stumbled over to the mirror. He hoped that when he opened his eyes, he would be normal again. He hoped, but it wasn’t a reality. He opened his eyes and say the same Skeppy as ever.

And just like Bad, he was a demon too.   


Just a monster.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo, Skeppy reveal next?


	5. People are mean, good thing I’m a demon.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Woo, Skeppy reveal!   
> Sorry to laurvt for not replying to your comment. It would have been spoilers. Don’t worry, I didn’t ignore you!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of weird chapter title. Like a supernatural quote.

Skeppy had pure black hair, and thanks to Jane, it was fluffy and bounced when he walked. Well, when he walked around the bathroom, otherwise the box kept it down. Skeppy lifted his hair from his face to find the first piece of a diamond implanted there. He ‘sighed’ and let his hair fall back down.   
  
Skeppy looked down more to his eyes, they were blue, but he remembered when they were black. They changed colors during his time in his previous town. He would have liked the color of them, and he probably would show those blue eyes to the world, but they glowed. That blue glow was ‘so pretty.’   
  
People wanted that blue glow, and they tried to get it, but there were others who protected his eyes. But the only reason they only protected his eyes so that he wouldn’t die, because they believed they were the source of his power. He let them believe that. If he got contacts, he would be able to wear a mask, but he doubted that they would sell anything like that in a little village like this one.

He looked under his eyes, to around his nose. There were little specks of diamonds littered like freckles around that area. He could probably play it off like that too, just light blue freckles. The people here have seen weirder.   
  
He looked lower at his mouth. There, a single piece of a diamond lay on the left side of his lips. That diamond that cut him every time he closed his mouth. It was connected to the top of his lip so he could open his mouth, but if he closed it, his bottom lip would be cut.   
  
The rest of his mouth was normal, but his throat contained the thing that blocked his speech. A diamond was there in his throat. It did stick out a little, but it looked more like his Adam’s apple than a lump. He rubbed over the lump, feeling the pain that it was having a diamond down your throat.

He looked around his mouth, various pieces of implanted diamonds littered on the bottom half of his face. One large shard went diagonally from the side of his lip to his chin. Another smaller one followed the direction beside it.   
  
Then there were three clashing shards on the right side of his face, very painful to take out, and even more painful when they grow back like the weeds that they were. Then the freckles went around the two areas, like stars to outline the spot where diamonds grew on his face. He looked lower at his neck. He was lucky that there were only three diamonds there at the sides, or else he probably would have been taken away a while ago.

Then down to his collarbone, it was a string of diamonds that outlined the bone above his chest. It was a beautiful bedazzle of them, they didn’t even really look like diamonds. They just looked like shiny circles. But when they were pulled out, they were diamonds.

Skeppy looked to his shoulders, a very overcrowded area of diamonds on both of the shoulders. He was glad that none of them stuck up, if they did, he would have a problem with his clothing. But then again, the clothing was very loose fitting, so it didn’t matter much either way. From his shoulder to halfway from the elbow, he had the diamond shards wrapped around his arms in dotted lines. It looked really cool out in the moonlight when the diamonds would just reflect the light. But he knew he wouldn’t be able to see himself in the moonlight again.

He looked past his elbow, an inch above his right wrist, a see-through shard. It looked almost like glass. His gloves sat about two inches above the shard to prevent it from being seen. The back of his hand and fingers were armored by these clear shards, conveniently staying away from the joints so that he could bend his fingers.

He then looked over to his left hand. He could see his bone from the non-existent fingers. He remembered when they found out that his bones were made from the diamond as well. It was horrifying. But it wasn’t all of his bones, as they cut open the front of his shin as well to see just the regular white human bone.   
  
They had done an x-ray after that and found that there were only two spots where his bone was diamond; his left hand and his ribcage. Or somewhere around or in his ribcage. But it was much to dangerous to try and take diamond from there without any anesthesia.   
  
So, they cut off the tips of his fingers to reach the diamond inside. And then they cut off the bone that was exposed to the air.   
  
Over and over and over again.   
  
Because every diamond on his body just grew back. And because it grew back, they just kept taking and taking from him.

He was just a working money machine. Skeppy understood, if a person was able to obtain free money, why wouldn’t they? But was it really worth the cost of Skeppy’s childhood. Skeppy didn’t understand morals, but he was sure that they at least had some.   
  
Then again, Skeppy was just a single kid, while his diamonds went out to feed many families that didn’t have to work a day in their life. He was the rich families income, and maybe that was what was right. He still didn’t like it. He turned away from the mirror and stepped into the bath before the water got any colder.

  
  
Bad sat next to his carving of Skeppy, and just thought. He thought about what was keeping Skeppy from talking, from laughing, from being able to express his thoughts and emotions properly.   
  
Then, Bad thought about what had happened yesterday, why Skeppy had grabbed onto his arm and sniffled. Why Skeppy had run off with a wave like everything was all right. And it hurt Bad to think about how Skeppy wouldn’t even be able to tell him what was wrong. Because it seemed like he knew how to write, but he was limited to short words.   
  
Well, Bad had assumed so since Skeppy could have just wrote out what was wrong if he knew how to. Or maybe he wouldn’t, some people do tend to keep to themselves like that.   
  
Bad turned to the carving and growled, “Skeppy! Why won’t you just tell me what’s wrong?” Of course, the carving Skeppy didn’t reply and Bad just sulked in the corner.

It was hard having a friend that couldn’t talk, at least Mega knew sign language, and he knew how to read and write. Bad doubted that Skeppy knew sign language, he would have been using it from the start. Bad tapped his nails against the floor, letting the rhythm guide him to sleep. He got to see Skeppy tomorrow anyways.

  
  
Skeppy put on his cardboard box when he heard his mom knock at his door. “Hurry up and get ready! It’s your first official work day on the farm!” Jane yelled. Skeppy knocked on the door twice to tell her that he was up and getting ready. He quickly threw on his clothes and put on his shoes. And a minute later he was speeding out the door, but Jane caught him by the hood again.   
  
“You have to eat breakfast first. I don’t want you starving out there.” Skeppy nodded and walked with Jane back to the house. She was ahead of him and he took advantage of that fact and started running again. He ran as fast as his legs could take him. He didn’t have time for food, he wanted to see Bad. He could hear her footsteps behind him. He had to show that he was just playing a game, so he put one arm up and waved his hand.

The footsteps behind him seemed to fade away. But Skeppy still didn’t slow down, not until he gets to Bad. He was glad to not have to run through the marketplace, he would have gotten caught easily. He ran straight and jumped over the barn fence, going over to the big farm in the distance. And on his way there, he ran past Bad. He quickly stopped and turned around to face the other boy.   
  
“Hi Skeppy. Uh, why were you running?” Bad asked. Skeppy just shrugged his shoulders, knowing he couldn’t say anything else. “Well okay then! It’s time for us to do some chores!” Bad said. Skeppy’s mood was instantly lifted from the sound of Bad’s. It was like the cure to sadness just to hear the boy speak.

  
  
They were on their way to feed the chickens when Bad felt like something was coming toward them. He turned around to see a woman running towards them. He waved and that’s when Skeppy looked behind them as well. As soon as he saw Jane’s eyes, he was back to running away.   
  
“Skeppy! Where are you going!” Bad yelled to him but Skeppy gave no reaction. He had a goal to run straight to the orchard. So, he ran and when he got there he started to climb one of the trees, used to it from his previous escape. He looked down from the top of the tree and saw no one was there. But before he could breathe in relief, he heard a voice beside him.   
  
“Why are we hiding from that lady?” Bad asked. Skeppy looked at him and put a finger to his lips to shush him.

Then Jane came running into the orchard and past the two boys. Bad laughed and Skeppy put his whole hand over his mouth. Skeppy saw as Jane stopped in her tracks and turned around. She looked behind her for him but saw nothing. Skeppy thought she would just walk away but she tilted her head up and started looking in the trees.   
  
Skeppy scooted back more but was blocked by Bad’s arm. He nodded thankfully as he saw that he would have fallen if Bad wasn’t there. Jane walked in their direction, and thanks to Skeppy’s bright blue box, they were spotted.   
  
“Skeppy, I can see you. You and your friend get out of that tree. You’ll break the branches.” Jane said. Skeppy wanted to protest against it but Bad already started to climb back down the tree. Skeppy followed him, knowing there was no way out of the situation now. He walked over to Jane and she grabbed the back of his sweater.   
  
“This time, I’m not letting you go. We’re going to eat breakfast with Margret.” Skeppy didn’t look back at Bad as he walked, scared that Jane would judge him because he didn’t put his hood on.

  
  
They walked back up the path to the house. She had made biscuits and gravy, a newfound delicacy to Skeppy. “Aye, why don’tcha take of yer box, eh?” Margret asked. Skeppy shook his head and continued eating.   
  
“He really likes that box on his head. Wears it all the time. I even wonder if he takes it off when he bathes.” Jane replied.   
  
“An’ ye ain’t never seen ‘im without it?” Margret asked.

“Oh no, no I have. He really is a cute boy, wish he would show his face more often.” Jane laughed. She lied to avoid the embarrassment of having to say that she had never seen her kid’s face.   
  
“Hm, I bet he is. Fine young man ye got there.” Margret said as she patted Jane’s back.   
  
She smiled and looked at Skeppy, “yeah. Sure is.” Skeppy smiled, even if he knew that it was just a empty compliment, not really meaning anything at all.

  
After he ate he went back out to do chores with Bad. Bad had let Skeppy take the lead, correcting him if he made any mistakes. Skeppy did do pretty well considering he didn’t understand the instructions the first time that Bad had said them. Bad smiled as he walked them to the orchard again. Skeppy had just eaten lunch, and the two of them had already made quick work of the chores they had done that day.

The sun was going to go down in a few hours but Skeppy had ‘said’ he wanted to go to the orchard before he left. At least that’s what Bad thought he said. Bad sat down in front of a tree and Skeppy sat down beside him.   
  
“You know, you’re the first person who’s seen my face and decided to stay next to me for this long. Mega is a close second, but he always gets dragged away by his dad and I only get to see him once a week.” Bad laughed as he looked at Skeppy.   
  
“Really, you’re technically my best friend. But I understand if I’m not your best friend, I mean there are so many other teenagers in the village, or kids too I guess. Do you like to make friends with kids your age or younger?” Bad started to ramble on. Skeppy didn’t feel like listening to the entire pity speech and stood up.

Bad stopped speaking and just stared at him, pain evident on his face. Skeppy rolled his eyes and motioned for Bad to follow him. Bad stood up and walked behind Skeppy. They walked out of the dirt and grass of the orchard and to the dirt of the path again. Skeppy sat on the ground and started to draw in the sand. He drew the two stick figures again, one with a horn. He pointed to the blank one and then himself.   
  
“That’s you?” Bad asked. Skeppy nodded and then drew a smile on the stick figure. “Aw, you’re happy?” Bad asked. Skeppy nodded again. Then he put a smile on Bad’s figure.   
  
“I’m happy too!” Bad said. Skeppy nodded again. Then he drew two arms to link the figures hands together. Bad gasped, “and we’re holding hands. Does that mean you think we’re friends?” Bad asked. Skeppy looked at him and gave him a thumbs up.

Bad fell to his knees and gave Skeppy a hug. “Skeppy. I’m so happy.” Bad said. Skeppy smiled and hugged Bad back. Bad stayed there for a second before pulling away.   
  
“I’m sorry that was probably really weird.” Bad said as he wiped his tears. Skeppy shook his head and hugged Bad again, loving the feeling of warmth that came from him, even if it was already hot outside. “Thank you Skeppy. I can’t believe that I have a best friend.” Bad said as he cried more into Skeppy’s shoulder.

They pulled away again and Skeppy wrote in the dirt. “5k3ppy here with Bad?” Skeppy wrote.   
  
“Yeah, you are here with me.” Bad said, confused. Skeppy erased his name and wrote a space in front of it.   
  
“5k3ppy _____ here with Bad?” Skeppy watched as Bad found out what Skeppy was asking.

“Oh no, you can’t stay with me. It’s almost dark. You have to go home and sleep.” Bad replied. Skeppy just pointed at the sentence again and then put his hands together and tilted his head onto them to simulate a pillow.   
  
“No Skeppy. You have to go home.” Bad said as he stood up. Even if the words were harsh, Skeppy could tell that Bad was regretting saying them He wanted to ask again but Bad had covered his eyes.   
  
“Go home, Skeppy. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Bad finalized. With that, Skeppy stood up and started walking home. Bad uncovered his eyes to watch Skeppy go down the path. He smiled weakly, knowing that it had to be done. Maybe someday Skeppy would be able to stay over. And then Bad can show Skeppy his carving!   
  
Bad walked back to his barn happily with that hope in his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> <3


	6. How could you say that about your child?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There’s a lot to unpack here so buckle up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhh it’s been so long. How do authors just not post for a week?
> 
> But side note, I’ve really been censoring myself on this story, this chapter in particular. I bet it’s obvious.

Monday, Mega was a day late and Bad worried that he actually wasn’t going to come this week. He sat outside again like yesterday and waited for him to come riding down the road to him. But, just like yesterday the only person who walked down that path was Skeppy. Well yesterday he was running down the path, now he was just walking.  
  
“Hey Skeppy!” Bad yelled. Skeppy looked up from the dirt road and waved.

“So, what was with that lady from yesterday?” Bad asked. Skeppy took a second to think and then made his arms into a cradle and rocked them back and forth.

“She has a baby?” Bad asked. Skeppy rocked his arms again and then pointed at himself.

“You have a baby?” Skeppy stopped to process what Bad had just asked.

“Oh, wait a second! You’re the baby!” Skeppy nodded his head. “So, who’s the lady?” Skeppy would have groaned in frustration then.  
  
He got on the floor and drew a stick figure carrying a child. He pointed to the child and then himself, earning a nod from Bad. Then he pointed at the woman. He looked up at Bad and Bad tilted his head. Skeppy circled the woman and Bad realized.  
  
“Ohhh, that’s the lady. So she’s your mom?” Bad asked. Skeppy nodded but then stopped and shrugged his shoulders. “What do you mean you don’t know? She’s your mom, right. Wait, look at me, Skeppy.” Bad said as he brought a spread-out hand to his chin.

“Mom?”  
  
Skeppy tilted his head. “Okay, no sign language.” Skeppy looked to the ground and wrote one of the first words he was taught to write.

“Jane.”

“Your mom’s name is Jane.” Bad said. Skeppy shook his head and just pointed at he name. “Okay, we aren’t getting anywhere with this. I’m going to ask you one question at a time. Jane is your mom?” Skeppy shook his head.

“The woman is just Jane?” Skeppy nodded. “Then why did you try to tell me she was your mom?” Bad asked. Skeppy shrugged his shoulders.  
  
“Huh? Skeppy! We just waisted so much time just for you to say that her name was Jane.” Bad said, confused at the man’s actions. Skeppy just shrugged again and started walking down to their first chore.

“Wait! Skeppy!” Skeppy stopped. “Um, could you do the chores today? I have to wait for my friend.” Skeppy tilted his head. “I’m sorry! It’s really important!” Bad pleaded. Skeppy sighed through his nose and just gave a thumbs up.  
  
“Really? Thank you Skeppy! I promise I’ll make it up to you!” Bad said. Skeppy nodded and continued walking. Bad happily watched Skeppy walk off.

It had been a while that Bad had been waiting, Skeppy must have been almost done with the chores right now. But then again, he was new to working on the farm. He stood up to go find Skeppy but as if it was like fate, when he stood up, he saw the tractor approaching. He smiled as he sat back down.  
  
When it came to a stop, it was still quite a ways away from him so he decided to go to them instead. He saw the woman from before laughing with Mega’s dad as she helped Margret out of the car. He smiled wider as he saw Mega lock eyes with him.  
  
Mega’s eyes opened wide as he tried to shoo Bad away. Bad wasn’t stupid, he knew when he wasn’t wanted. He turned around and lifted his hood, walking the other way.  
  
But it was too late as he heard Mega’s dad “what is it, son?” Then he heard Jane gasp. He didn’t stop walking until he heard his mom.  
  
“God damn it boy. Git yer arse o’er ‘ere!” Bad froze and thought about whether it was really a good idea to turn around. He apparently didn’t think long enough because he walked back to his mom with a serious face, knowing it was a serious situation.

“What er ye doin’ pickin’ rocks outta dirt ‘stead of chores?” Margret asked. Bad became nervous as he noticed there were three more people than usual watching him get yelled at.  
  
“I was just waiting for them to drop off the supplies like they do every week.” Bad explained.

“You’re a day late and you know that. Quit the bullshit excuses.” Mega’s dad said as he took a step towards him.

“Paul, stop.” Jane said as she grabbed onto his arm.

“Stop what Jane? This demon has to be taught right from wrong. And I don’t think words are getting through his idiotic brain.” Paul replied.  
  
“He’s no demon. He’s just a boy, just like yours.” Jane argued.  
  
Paul laughed, “Oh no, he is nothing like my boy. At least my boy is a human. Something I was blessed with from heaven. But that thing.” Paul pointed a finger at Bad quickly, making him flinch.

“He was brought from a hell. A curse put on Margret.”  
  
“Oh shut yer trap, Paul. At least me boy can talk.” Margret argued. Bad smiled, but then she turned to look at him. “An’ even if he’s a curse on me from ‘ell, he get the job done.” Bad’s smile fell again.

“Don’t come after Mega’s lack of speech. My boy is useful and that’s all that matters.” Paul replied, ending the argument quickly between them.  
  
“A curse from hell? How could you say that about your child? He’s right there.” Jane asked.

“Jane, ye best stay outta this. It’ll bite ye in the arse.” Margret warned. Jane walked towards Bad. The last thing that he would have wanted.  
  
“But it isn’t right, there isn’t anything wrong with him, he’s just a regular boy.” Jane said as she tried to lay a reassuring hand on Bad’s shoulder, only for him to kindly take it off.

“Jane, you get away from that thing. You don’t know what it’s capable of.” Paul said as he grabbed Jane’s wrist. Jane struggled out of the grasp.

“Let go, Paul.” Jane said through gritted teeth.

“Jane get over here!” He pulled once more but Jane pulled back twice as hard, and Paul let go. The force of the action sent her back and made her hit Bad. His lazily worn hood fell off of his hair. She backed away from him and bowed her head apologetically.  
  
“I’m so sorry that was very rude of me-“ She looked up to see the face of the demon she had fallen on.  
  
He smiled, “oh it’s completely fine.” When she saw his teeth, she screamed. Paul put a hand on her shoulder and she shakingly looked up at him.  
  
“Paul..? What the hell?” Jane asked.  
  
Paul shook his head, “what did I tell you, Jane?” He lifted his arm to show Jane the demon again. Bad’s hurt expression couldn’t be hidden as he saw Jane’s face. A girl who was once so caring and understanding. She even stood up to them, was looking at him like how his mother had probably looked at him when he was first birthed.

“A demon.” Paul said.

Bad let that phrase play through his head. He was a demon. That’s all he was. He could never be considered a person. Not by anyone.

“I told ye not ta pry. Now ye look like ye have seen a ghost.” Margret said.

“A demon, but close.” Jane replied, trying to calm herself with jokes. Bad looked passed the two of them and saw Skeppy standing next to where Mega was sitting in the tractor still.

He smiled, knowing that there were at least two people who probably wouldn’t think of him as just a demon. Jane turned to look at where Bad was looking and locked eyes with Skeppy.

“Skeppy, is this Bad?” Skeppy nodded. Jane breathed in deeply and sighed. “And you’ve been doing chores with him?” Skeppy nodded again.  
  
Jane turned to look at Margret, “and you’ve been letting Skeppy work with this thing?” Jane asked. Those words hurt the both of them.  
  
“Yes, I ‘ave. An’ he’s been doin’ a fantastic job.” Margret replied.  
  
“Skeppy has been working with your curse of a child?” Paul yelled.

“Yes, already answered ye.” Margret said.

“Now that’s messed up. I wouldn’t let Mega any closer than a foot to that beast. And your forcing Jane’s boy to do it without her will?” Paul asked. 

“He can make ‘is own decisions. He’s a growin’ boy. Ought ta do it someday.” Margret replied.  
  
“You’re selfish. You just wanted extra hands on your farm. Not once did you think of his health.” Jane scolded. She turned and grabbed Skeppy’s hand.

“Goodbye Margret. I’m sorry for taking away your help. He won’t be coming back. But if you would like, next week we can eat together again.” Margret didn’t say a word.  
  
“Just give me some time to forgive your actions.” Jane then started to drag Skeppy away. He reached behind him to where Bad was. He expected Bad to come help him, but he just shook his head with a sad smile.

Skeppy put his hand down and started to walk away with Jane. He was going to get away from Jane soon. But now wasn’t the time. Too risky. Bad watched as one of his only friends left the farm.  
  
“C’mon Mega, we’re going too. Thank you for your time, Margret. We’ll be here next week.” Paul then turned and hopped into his vehicle to drive away. When everyone was gone, Bad just felt like crumbling and crying his heart out.

But it was never time for emotions when Margret was around. She grabbed him just below his shoulder and dragged him back in that familiar direction towards the barn.

“Damn it. Ye a bloody curse all right. An’ ye just bleed yer troubles all o’er the place. Discrace.” He just kept his eyes to the ground.  
  
“But t’was partly my fault. So imma go easy on ye. Only get three days in ‘ere.” Bad nodded as he was pushed into the barn and the door were closed.  
  
After all of the stress of keeping composed was gone, Bad just weakly walked over to his Skeppy and sat next to it. He leaned his head on it as he let the tears fall.  
  
“Geppy.” Bad said weakly. He knew he wasn’t going to ever see him again. He messed it up again. He wiped his tears just for them to be replaced with new ones. He walked over to the wall of names and used his claw to scratch Skeppy’s name. Another one gone.

Four days. That’s all it took for Jane to start suspecting Skeppy. And he was going to the doctors to get inspected on her command. He wasn’t about to get examined. He did the same thing as before, got dressed quickly and raced out of his room and out the door. He felt that sense of danger, and he felt faster than he usually would. It was the danger and thrill of escaping.  
  
“Skeppy! Not again!” Jane yelled as she chased after him. Foolish to be dressed so nicely. Heels were a real pain to run in. But he really should have heard more from her if she was wearing them. He foolishly looked behind him and saw why he hadn’t heard a sound.  
  
Jane wasn’t wearing any shoes, probably because of the trouble of running in heels. But it was also stupid to take off your feet’s only protection during a chase. Skeppy knew what to do then. He turned to the right and went towards the river that he came from.  
  
That river was surrounded by rocks, and it would be hard for Jane to run in the rocks with him. Jane, really could be a track runner, she’d probably do well at distance running. It had taken them a while to get there, but when they did, Skeppy was out of breath.

Then Skeppy heard the crunch of rocks on his feet and felt relief. Relief that he made it to the rocks. Relief until he felt a body tackle him to the ground. His box fell in front of him and he scrambled to get it, but Jane held him down.  
  
“Skeppy, this isn’t a game. You need to eat breakfast so we can get you properly examined at the doctor’s.” Jane said. Skeppy would have enjoyed the sincerity of those words if he wasn’t in a panic.

“Skeppy, stop trying to hide in that box and look at me.” Skeppy shook his head, the box was far out of his reach, at least a foot away from his fingertips.  
  
“SKEPPY! LOOK AT ME!” Jane cried out. Skeppy froze, he had never heard Jane scream before.

She never got mad, or frustrated when she couldn’t tell what Skeppy was saying. She didn’t yell at him for being in the bathroom so long to look at himself in the mirror. She never yelled when he made a mess of his food trying to eat under his mask. She never got mad,

Skeppy thought nothing could make her mad, not even Margret. But the next second, Skeppy realized that Jane wasn’t mad, she was actually crying.

“Skeppy, you don’t know how hard it is. How hard it is to hear every other mom in the village talk about what their kids said that day or how cute their smile is or how beautiful their eyes are. How they’re able to sing with them and hear how their child sounds when they read. How they’re so happy with their family, they are always saying something or doing a silly face or even laughing.”  
  
Jane started her rant, hoping that Skeppy would just turn and look at her. Maybe he would smile at her, give her that bit of satisfaction of seeing her son’s smile. But he stayed frozen. Tears finally fell down her face.

“I mean, look at us. Laying in a pile of rocks next to a river. And this is the first time I’ve even seen the color of your hair. Do you think that we’re happy, Skeppy?” Skeppy really didn’t know the best way to reply so he just nodded. Jane sighed and got off of him.

“As long as you think that then I’ll be happy for now.” Skeppy crawled over to his box and put it on his head.

Jane laughed, “I guess I was foolish to assume that you would actually go to the doctor’s willingly. You won’t even take of that stupid box.” Jane stood up and shook her head.

“I wish I never decorated that. Maybe you wouldn’t be so attached to it.” She turned around, saying one last thing before walking off.

“I’ll let you go free today, but you are going to go get an inspection sometime soon. And then I’ll finally be able to see my child’s face.” Skeppy watched as she walked away.

He got so many mixed feelings from her. But maybe that was normal. Maybe she had mixed feelings, since Skeppy wasn’t normal. She probably didn’t know whether to hate that or respect it. And Skeppy understood. She was doing her best with a bad situation. Was it the best someone could do? Far from it.  
  
But people don’t understand monsters. No one can understand monsters besides the monsters themselves. Skeppy picked himself off the floor and started to walk away in the opposite direction of Jane.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please tell me if you think the plot is moving to fast! Thank you. <3


End file.
